In recent years, there has been an increase in consumer demand for more closely trimmed and uniformly distributed fat on meat products. As such, retailers are demanding that meat producers supply them with more closely trimmed meat so that retail cuts of meat can be prepared without the necessity of trimming additional amounts of fat prior to sale. In response to such consumer and retailer demands, meat packers have developed a need for more efficient and economical methods for providing trimmer cuts of meat. Moreover, meat packers presently pay ranchers per head of cattle regardless of the fat content of the cattle. The cost effectiveness of meat packaging could be increased by providing a method for identifying leaner cattle so that the price a meat packer pays for cattle is commensurate with how lean the cattle are. By providing an economic incentive to produce leaner cattle, meat packers hope that cattle suppliers will be encouraged to produce leaner cattle.
Typically, the meat packaging process involves slaughtering an animal and dehiding the animal carcass. The carcass is then chilled prior to further fabrication into individual cuts of meat. During the fabrication process, portions of fat are routinely trimmed from such meat pieces. Additional trimming of the fabricated meat product by retail butchers is often required to produce cuts of meat that are appealing to consumers.
Removal of fat from carcasses is commonly achieved using electrically or pneumatically driven hand-held knives. Various styles of hand-held knives have been devised to facilitate trimming of fat from meat and for removing meat from bones. A hand-held knife commonly used in the meat packaging industry is referred to as the Wizard.TM. knife manufactured by Bettcher Corp., disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,688,403, 4,142,291, 4,166,317, 4,175,321, 4,509,261, and 4,516,323. The Bettcher knife generally comprises a hand-held knife having a handle projecting radially from an annular ring-like structure with a central opening. The annular ring-like structure supports a power-driven ring-like blade. The knife can have various size diameter blade holders and cutting blades depending upon the particular meat trimming operation for which the knife is being used.
The Bettcher knife is typically used to trim fat from carcasses after such carcasses have been chilled and to trim fat from meat portions after subsequent fabrication of such carcasses. The severed sections of fat pass through the central opening of the ring-like structure and blade of the knife. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,403, a depth gauge is disclosed having a base part which connects to the knife and a ring-like gauge concentric with the blade and conforming generally to the interior of the blade. The guide is positioned only slightly within the inner edge of the cutting blade either above or below the plane of the cutting edge of the blade and assists in controlling the thickness of the cut made by the knife blade.
Alternative gauges have been developed for hand-held knives. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,937 to McCollough, discloses a disc control gauge, used in combination with a meat trimming knife, for controlling the amount of meat cut from a larger piece of meat. The depth control plate comprises a disc-shaped member attached via a shaft extending upwards through the center of a rotatably mounted ring-like blade and is adjustable above the plane of the cutting blade. U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,197 to Wilcox discloses a ham trimming knife having a depth gauge used in combination with a hand-held knife having a U-shaped belt blade mechanism. The depth gauge extends perpendicular to the belt blade and comprises a rigid knife blade having an unsharpened bottom and a sharpened rear edge for cutting meat. The depth gauge is specifically designed for use with a ham trimming knife disclosed by Wilcox and is not suited for use with more commonly used trimming knives such as the Wizard.TM. knife.
There remains a need to develop a method and device capable of retaining a pre-determined thickness of fat on an animal carcass or a piece of meat which also allows easy passage of the product being cut away from the cutting knife and which simultaneously stabilizes the knife.